Switzerland is investing CHF 18.5 million to continue supporting key reforms in Ukraine, focusing on education and decentralisation

Switzerland is investing CHF 18.5 million to continue supporting key reforms in Ukraine, specifically in education and decentralisation.

The funds will be allocated for the second phase of the DECIDE Project, which will run from September 2025 to August 2030.

A memorandum outlining this new phase of the Project was signed today at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome.

The project's main partners are the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, regional military administrations, regional councils, and territorial communities.

The DECIDE Project will expand its activities at regional and local levels, covering nine regions and 40 territorial communities.

The partner regions include Odesa, Ivano-Frankivsk, Poltava, Chernihiv and Luhansk. They will be joined by four additional regions, which will be selected through a competition.

The focus areas for the second phase of the DECIDE project include the following:

– supporting the implementation of senior specialised school reform, particularly the establishment of academic lyceums;

– assisting the government in reforming the vocational education system;

– developing a strategic planning system for regions and communities with a focus on education;

– debureaucratisation and digitisation of education management (AIKOM 2), and reform of the education statistics and analytics system;

– enhancing the professional development of local government representatives and civil servants in the field of education;

– promoting local democracy through education;

– implementing infrastructure projects to restore access to high-quality and safe education in communities;

– encouraging inter-municipal cooperation for the effective establishment and operation of academic lyceums;

– supporting the implementation of participatory budgeting in education;

– developing a career guidance system in partnership with communities, educational institutions, businesses, and authorities.